Thread by @jennycohn1

When the glitch happens in a primary, the "losing" candidate typically concedes for the sake of party unity. But why would the "loser's" supporters embrace the "winner" in these circumstances? The only way to achieve unity is to fight for & implement evidence-based elections. 1/

https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/1030536570682535936

2/ @philipbstark, who invented Risk Limiting Audits, describes "evidence-based elections" 2 mean #paperballots + robust manual audits + a transparent chain of custody between Election Night & the audit (including perhaps video surveillance of the ballots). stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/Preprin…

3/ I agree with this formulation w/ two caveats. First, as explained in my article linked in post 1, a HAND MARKED paper ballot is a much more reliable indicator of voter intent than a summary card--some call them "paper ballots"--marked by a computer.

4/ Second, I think the strongest evidence of a legitimate election outcome would come courtesy of #handmarkedpaperballots counted in public by hand on election night, as is currently done w/in about 3 hours in New Hampshire.

https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/961056517666390017

5/ If states refuse manual counting, the next best would be to conduct robust manual audits and to maintain a transparent chain of custody between Election Night and the audit, including most likely video surveillance of the ballots.

6/ But IMHO, evidence-based elections are the only way to promote actual unity both within and between the parties. Having an obviously untrustworthy system is tearing us apart on all sides.

7/ I have always been a Hillary supporter, but I understand why Bernie supporters did not trust the process. Why on Earth should they? If my party wants party unity, it has to earn it, which means that every single member should make evidence-based elections a priority.

8/ That @ronwyden seems to be the only one within the Democratic party taking this seriously enough is extremely troubling and I honestly believe counter-productive.

9/ And this is coming from someone who has never been a fan of Bernie Sanders. Never. Not at all. But we all deserve to have elections that we can trust. And right now, we don't have that. It's appalling.